The ongoing reform in Nigeria’s power sector, which has created almost 20 successor companies to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), is gradually generating a lot of businesses in the human resources and management field, especially for recruiters, BusinessDay has learnt.
With the emergence of the new sector players, human resources companies have started receiving hiring briefs in the past few weeks, which analysts say may spiral when the companies are finally taken over by the new owners, who are currently in shadow management of their respective acquisitions.
Chinedu Duru, managing consultant at Hamilton Lloyd and Associates, a human resources firm, disclosed that the power sector companies are currently recruiting senior executives who will drive their new business.
“The power sector is the next ‘GSM’, although it is still at the infant stage. From the HR point of view, we are expecting a boom. The expected job demand from the sector has started coming in trickles as some of the companies hire senior executives that would drive the business. We are expecting recruitment and selection,
change management (for companies that come together to form a company) and other services,” Duru pointed out.
Opeyemi Awoyemi, co-founder of Jobberman.com, an online recruitment firm, disclosed that over the last seven months, job adverts in the sector have gone up from almost no placement earlier. There was employment embargo in the sector for up to 18 years when the government had sole control on it.
“Vacancy advert has increased from almost nothing to hundreds of roles (with many slots available) month on month over the last seven months. There has been a surge in the number of vacancies in the industry, although it is still an insignificant sum compared to some other sectors,” Awoyemi disclosed.
Meanwhile, recruitment and selection business from the banking sector which always topped other sectors has reduced as banks are recruiting very few after massive layoffs late last year, what Awoyemi described as optimisation practice by the banks.
For Duru, the Hamilton Lloyd managing consultant, the banks were merely exiting their employees who no longer fit into their present profile, and recruiting people who are young and trainable.
Due to the uncertainty caused by this situation and adverse working conditions they face, bankers are said to be migrating to other sectors of the economy with some going into consultancy and entrepreneurship with the experiences they have garnered in the sector.
Tina Egbuiwe, managing consultant at ProSolutions Consulting Limited, noted that bankers are desperate to get out of the sector. “The working conditions are appalling and there is so much uncertainty. While the pay is still fairly attractive, it is tied to high performance that most staff are unable to meet and therefore do not actually earn such amounts,” she added.
The human resources experts are still hopeful about more jobs emanating from other sectors of the economy such as manufacturing, retail and construction, this year. While Awoyemi of Jobberman.com sees more job creation in the manufacturing and retail sector this year, Egbuiwe sees the construction sector creating more jobs although for non-graduates, adding that more entrepreneurs will also emerge as people create jobs for themselves on a micro scale.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), increased to 23.90 percent in 2011 from 21.10 percent in 2010, presenting more daunting task in the effort to bridge the employment gap.
While government, together with the private sector, is looked upon to create more employment opportunities to absorb the numerous unemployed persons, the need has arisen for the education sector to restrategise and ensure the training of creative individuals who can stand on their own rather than wait to be employed.
IFEOMA ONUOHA
